This is a local recruitment. Only Maldivian nationals, individuals with residence status or the appropriate employment visa for Maldives are eligible to apply. The remuneration and benefits package for this position is established with reference to the local labour market and in line with the IUCN conditions of service for Maldives.

Average temperatures and sea level are projected to rise by 2oC and more than 100 cm, respectively, over the following decades. These events have decimated a large majority of fringing coral reefs, an ecosystem that plays a fundamental role in food provision, shoreline protection, and enhanced water quality for the majority of coastal developing countries. Globally, natural resource managers are facing growing challenges from multiple and cumulative stressors that are increasing the vulnerability of ecosystems and societies that depend on their goods and services. While marine conservation and management practices have focused mostly on threat reduction (e.g. reducing overfishing and pollution), managers and agencies talk with increasing frequency about safeguarding or building resilience – i.e. supporting ecosystem processes that lower sensitivity, promote recovery and enhance adaptive capacity. One rationale for such a shift in management approach is the increasing pressures from climate change, a global driver that compromises the health of many ecosystems, and which increases the need for urgent and effective local-scale management actions.

Specifically, Project REGENERATE – Reef Generate Environmental and Economic Resilience for Atoll Ecosystems - has been developed to showcase and address coral reef issues in the Maldives. The overall aims of this project are to:

• Improve access to science and technology for decision-making and establishing policy framework for increasing resilience to climate change.
• Increase Stakeholder capacity to measure and monitor and adapt to climate stresses through education, training, and outreach.
• Strengthen governance in support of decentralised management for more resilient ecosystems
• Establish sustainable financing mechanisms to support climate resilient marine management

The Communications Associate will develop and implement advocacy and outreach of work done by IUCN REGENERATE. He/she will also provide support to the project team in all communications-related work, including but not limited to graphics design, content development and translations from English into Dhivehi for various IUCN products.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Implement internal and external communications strategies and outreach
• Manage IUCN Maldives’ social media presence and develop content for communications platforms?
• Maintain image banks and the Muraka Meehun public awareness campaign
• Design and do layouts for IUCN Maldives products
• Translate IUCN products from English into Dhivehi as requested

DUTIES
• Develop advocacy and outreach programs for marketing and awareness campaigns
• Manage, update and maintain the IUCN Maldives Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts; collecting material and posting
• Write newsletter articles on project activities and marine environmental issues for IUCN Maldives e-newsletters and other external communications platforms as needed;
• Draft press releases for important events and publications;
• Regularly post updates on social media sites (Facebook and Twitter) on project activities, fieldwork events and project results;
• Take photographs of field activities and environmental issues, and organize an online archive of photos for use in publications and websites;
• Develop communications products and review related content for the Muraka Meehun public awareness campaign.
• Engage and contribute to IUCN Maldives work
• Perform other tasks as may be assigned.